With a quick vote and little discussion, the state last week got approval to put "high-occupancy toll" or HOT lanes on I-15.
Days after the decision, however, reactions appear mixed. Some residents have e-mailed the state asking when they can pay $50 a month to get a HOT lane sticker pass, while others have called it a way of providing a "Lexus lane" for the rich.
The creation of the lanes is the first time in Utah that a toll will be applied to part of a state-run highway. With a HOT lane, a single motorist can pay for the right to drive in the existing carpool lane.
"My initial thought was that it was kind of like going back to the old Soviet days, where they had a special lane in the middle of the road for the government vehicles," said Chuck Stolfa, who lives in Draper and commutes to downtown Salt Lake City. "But then I started thinking about it. What's my time worth? If I save, I'd pay."
Drivers with clean-fuel vehicles, motorcyclists, carpoolers and buses will still be allowed in the lane for free, according to the Utah Department of Transportation.
Now that the HOT lanes have won approval, UDOT officials say the travel-time savings will be noticeable to all drivers. On I-15, the lane will extend 38 miles from 600 North in Salt Lake to University Parkway in Orem. As a result, speeds in the general-purpose lanes are expected to increase an average of 10 mph during peak travel times.
UDOT and other state transportation agencies say studies show that HOT lanes add capacity to roads. Without them, said UDOT deputy director Carlos Braceras, traffic problems would increase.
"Five years from now, we'd find our system very much in a point of failure," Braceras said. "We would not be able to carry the amount of people we need to carry."
But Kirby Cook, of Saratoga Springs, says painting such bleak scenarios to promote HOT lanes is a form of "horrendous skulduggery."
"We can always afford to build roads when we need them," Cook said. "That's what taxes are used for. That's a wonderful thing to build roads with. When they're crying that they can't afford them, I don't believe it. What that means is that the politicians would rather spend the money on something else, and I think that is irresponsible."
Chuck Lambert, of Pleasant Grove, said carpool lanes — or high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes — should be used for what they're intended, to encourage conservation and ride sharing, rather than for HOT lanes.
"I believe we're selling privilege instead of encouraging what HOV lanes started out to be," Lambert said.
Some state officials, however, say the HOT lanes make sense because Utah is facing an estimated $23 billion deficit for needed road projects. Sen. Sheldon Killpack, R-Syracuse, said ways to reduce that deficit include HOT lanes and toll roads, as well as impact fees like the $10 vehicle-registration increase that just passed in several counties for corridor preservation.
"Any increase is difficult," Killpack said. "But the bottom line is, we need to fund transportation. It can't be ignored."
Come July, UDOT plans to begin selling stickers online for the HOT lanes. Only 600 will be available at first, at a cost of $50 per month.
Utah's HOT lanes will be operational around the end of August or early September. Motorists will be able to enter the lanes at 15 access points, about 2,000 feet long, near I-15 interchanges. Two highway patrol vehicles will be acquired to help enforce the lanes.
For more information about HOT lanes, see UDOT's Web site at www.udot.utah.gov.
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com